Netflix Hidden Gems: The IT Crowd

It is quite possible that this show is much more well known than I have been lead to believe. In the year or so since I have watched it, I’ve only run into two or three other people whose eyes have lit up with both recognition and glee at the mere mention of Moss’s Abracada-bra or Roy’s Kermit witness protection program t-shirt. So in my eyes, more people need to stop watching The Big Bang Theory and log on to Netflix to watch the vastly superior IT Crowd.

The premise of the show is pretty basic. Jen (played by the hilarious Katherine Parkinson), is a woman with much more ambition than smarts. During a rather bizarre job interview, she manages to talk her way into the position of IT Manager at a large company. She soons finds herself managing the two IT guys in the basement – Roy, a raggedy guy with a short temper (played by Chris O’Dowd, now of Bridesmaids and Girls fame) and Moss (played by Richard Ayoade, recently seen in The Watch), a guy who is both strangely literal and cluelessly naive.

The IT Crowd is strong on a number of levels other than it just being funny. The show truly excels at making fun of the worlds of dating and work, and there isn’t a single performer in the show that gets consistently overshadowed by the rest.

And just to give you a taste of the show’s funnier moments, I found this little ditty for you on youtube. Quick intro: Jen suddenly realizes there is a red door in the IT office that she has never noticed before. A quick exploration introduces her to the 4th and rather secret member of her office – Richmond, an executive whose discovery of death metal and goth music has resulted in a demotion to the bowels of the building:

Other gems include the boys convincing Jen that the entire internet is housed in a tiny black box they lend her as a visual aid for an upcoming speech, Moss enrolling in what he thinks is a German cooking class but finding out the “I want to cook with you” ad means something else entirely, and my favorite episode that involves an awkward dinner party at Jen’s house.

In the end, the IT Crowd is a cheeky and very funny show. Rather than just spending all its time pointing and laughing at the nerds, the focus turns to the members of the IT team eventually learning to support each other and work through all the crazy situations together. Of course, that doesn’t mean all their witty jabs at each other go away either. What you end up with is a sassy and slick show filled with pop-culture references, a few parodies, and over the top antics.

The nerd/geek love is certainly there in spades as well. A person could spend hours looking through all the goodies they’ve got in their IT office – vinyl toys, indie comics, old gaming systems, and every kind of poster and clever bumper sticker you could think of. I will admit to not getting a lot of the references myself, but that is proof in itself that the show is pretty accessible to those who might not necessarily identify themselves as a nerd/geek.

Lastly, if you have already seen The IT crowd and was wondering what else might be worth your time in the scary sea of Netflix Instant watch, here are a few other shows/movies that I have watched recently.

Black Books: Bernard Black is a surly bookshop owner/expert drunk who would rather tell you off than actually sell you a book. After yet another one of his crazy drinking sprees, he discovers that he has hired the recently laid off and rather chipper Manny as his new clerk.

Todd and the Book of Pure Evil: Let’s imagine Kevin Smith wrote Buffy the Vampire Slayer and replaced Buffy with a sex obsessed, pot smoking Canadian boy. Yeah, it’s pretty much that.

The House – Korean animated film about a girl who moves into a declining neighborhood and suddenly finds that she can see and talk to the spirits of the old houses. Very slow moving, but the animation style is interesting.

5 comments

Yay! More fans of the awesome IT Crowd, and I hope more for Black Books as well. I could watch those 2 shows & other BBC comedies such as Spaced & Red Dwarf over & over again.
I’ve been a fan of Richard Ayoade since I first saw him in Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace back in 2004 which he also co-wrote & directed. He continued on with his character from that show in a spin off Man to Man with Dean Learner which he co-wrote & co-directed. I wasn’t a big fan of his other series Nathan Barley or The Mighty Boosh but the IT Crowd was an instant hit for me since I used to work in IT & many of the jokes I lived through.
I highly recommend watching the movie Submarine which Ayoade co-wrote & directed. It’s a sweet love story.

I didn’t include Spaced because I thought it was well-known enough to not qualify as a hidden gem. Red Dwarf had been included in my short list until The Red Menace was kind enough to point out that I should allow the love to overflow into its own post.

I totally agree that Spaced & Red Dwarf are well known & not hidden gems. I discovered the BBC sci-fi comedy Hyperdrive starring Nick Frost (Spaced) on Netflix which is like a lower grade of Red Dwarf. There are some very funny scenes in the show though. This scene had me cracking up. (warning, language NSFW)